K.C.E.

'94 LT 1 - 74000 miles

I am replacing the opti spark, water pump and their corresponding oil seals.

1. Water pump seal:

The replacement seal for the water pump shaft has an 'inner' lip (black) and 'outer' lip (yellow). I used a socket to pop it in. It looks like the inner seal did NOT go in correctly. It looks like it physically buckled under and came out; it actually came under the yellow lip and is sticking out.

So.....I assume this is not good? I should pop this seal out and purchase a new seal and reinstall?

I noted that the replacement seal is designed differently than the original. The original was more like the opti spark seal (more conventional) with no inner and outer seal.

Any suggestions on how to orient the inner seal correctly.

I did look at another website that showed how to do it on another type of car.....but they had a special tool that they made. I could not find a description of the tool or tell from the photo what it looked like.

2. Water pump. The replacement water pump did NOT come with a coupler on the spline gear. The original pump has it's coupler on it but it is not coming off that easily. It looks like it goes into the bearings.

Is the coupler on the original water pumps removable?

Do I need to go back and order that separate?

This is becoming very frustrating and taking entirely too long.

CAJUN C4

They make a special tool for this..might check with your GM parts dept..

Weav's Vet

You can use a Sharpie cap instead of buying the special tool.

http://www.focuztech.com/Web%20Graph...ealinstall.pdf

K.C.E.

I have checked with our GM parts.....they do not sell such a tool....I did find a tool from an aftermarket company for about $170 but it was not clear if the tool handles this type of seal.

A sharpie cap? I will look at this.....also when I went to the website you posted...... the tool on the website looked like polished aluminum and not a sharpie cap.....did I misunderstand something?

Water pump coupler? The old coupler is NOT coming out. The new water pump did NOT come with a coupler. I've got to believe I am missing something here......any suggestions.

skybolt31

Here are some pictures of the "alternate" tool:

http://www.impalassforum.com/vBullet...ight=optispark

Your old coupler will come out, is it stuck on the engine or the old WP?

Either way, you need to reuse it on the new pump.

K.C.E.

It is stuck on the old water pump.

The coupler goes into the pump and is surrounded by the ball bearings......over 50% of the ball bearings are missing.

The new pump has a seal so the ball bearing are not exposed. Very different look to it.

PLRX

That may be the F reason I have an oil leak on my LT4. I guess I'll be using a sharpie cap.

good info, Thanks

96GS#007

Work hard to get it off. A new one is something like $60.

JAKE

A couple of months ago I installed a new W/P on my 96. I didn't need anything special and with a little wiggling the coupler came right off. Sorry you're having such a problem with yours.

I've got a spare coupler around here somewhere if it turns out you need it - let me know and I'll drop it in the mail to you.

Jake

K.C.E.

Jake: Thanks for the offer.....I will let you know. I am still somewhat confused why the original pump has the ball bearings exposed (and so many missing) and it looks like the coupler physically goes into that area with a groove on the coupler for the bearings to ride on......I need to inspect closer....does not make sense. The new pump has seal on it with no bearings exposed. I will inspect closer this morning when I go out to work on it. Maybe I will post a pic....

I am also reading on different posts where they recommend NOT to put a thin film of oil on the water pump seal or opti seal when installing.....I put oil on both when installing.....I need to pull the opti to get the WP seal, should I go ahead and pull the opti seal, clean it, and reinstall before I put it all back together?

PLRX: As soon as I installed my WP seal, I inspected it with a magnifying glass and sure enough I could see the inner seal barely protruding out the front. Definitely a place where oil could now seep out. Very frustrating. I had to walk away from working on the car and call it a night. A lot of work for a little seal!

toptechx6

Try this link for a low priced tool

http://www.focuztech.com/lt1-water-p...tion-tool.html

K.C.E.

toptechx6: Thnx, that is the tool that I saw pictured in other threads but could not find out where they got it.......

STL94LT1

That's because the bearing id bad, the reason for the pump failure.

JAKE

I found several ball bearings missing during my water pump swap too.

As I recall from the 96 Vette FSM, GM shows a couple of diagrams with little "oil droplets" indicating the areas that should be lightly oiled. I can look up the page number if you need me to.

"O" rings are one, coupler another and can't recall what else. Memories tend to fade once you qualify for Medicare, LOL

Jake

PLRX

All these years working on LT1/4 engines (since 1997) and this is the first time I've heard of this. I've done that seal about 4 times (1 in my 92, 1 in my 95 and twice in my 96). The seal always go in so, never occurred to me it would leak or go in the wrong way.

I ordered the "special tool" to add it to my special LT engines tools and to do the job once again on each Vette correctly.

SONOFA8ITCH

Thanks K.C.E.

K.C.E.

My "special" LT 1 engine tools are taking over my tool box, tool cabinet, and with enough time my garage.

tblt44

K.C.E.

I got the coupler off of the old water pump. I spayed some Kroil on it this morning and it came off rather easily this afternoon.....thanks for the offer though.

PLRX

Got my tiny tool today

K.C.E.

still waiting for mine....it was shipped on Wednesday....I took Friday off to put the car back together....so hopefully I get it in Friday mail.....I have a LOT of work when it arrives and putting the WP seal is the first thing.....